


Discovery

by SilverStrings



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Just something cute to read, Reader-Insert, Romance, super short chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6860950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStrings/pseuds/SilverStrings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Digging had always been your favorite activity. Even after you received your first pokémon, while others were out collecting badges, you were out hunting for rare gems and fossils. They all grew into trainers while you grew into a woman of science. You just never thought that your career in archaeology would lead you down the path of romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discovery

Water dripped from the ceiling of the underground cavern and onto your helmet as you walked through its passageways. It was cold and smelled like a mixture of dirt and brine: your favorite smell in the morning—or was it the afternoon? Regardless, the scent would normally leave you feeling relaxed, but you were on a mission that kept you far from it.

You shifted the pickaxe on your shoulder before turning to the tall pokémon beside you. “Could you hurry it up? We need to get as much as we can for the big conference next week.”

Your trusty Gabite snorted as if to tell you that he really didn’t care.

“Hey, you can keep most of the gems if we can find good fossils to showcase,” you told him. “How’s that sound?”

The cave pokémon grumbled before nipping at your elbow in protest. 

You winced as you pulled away. _“Hey!_ What did I tell you about biting?”

Gabite closed his eyes and snorted as he turned away, though he continued walking at your side.

You lowered your tone as you admitted, “I know it’s a lot more work than usual, but the conference is next week and we really need to make up for all those specimens that were stolen yesterday.” You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked down and scoffed. “I can’t believe that Maria trusted the museum to keep everything safe after what happened last time.” You waved your free arm around as your voice grew higher in pitch. “What the heck is wrong with people—stealing those perfect scientific specimens? Who _knows_ if we’ll ever find another fossil in such prime condition again? I mean… maybe we’ll _eventually_ find something close, but we’ll probably never find anything as good.”

Gabite froze midway through your verbal tirade, his senses directing him to the wall at your right. A low roar emitted from his throat in an attempt to gather your attention without echoing through the whole underground. You halted your train of thought before stepping aside and placing your hand against the cool rocky surface. Once you located a stable place to begin, you raised your pickaxe and carefully chipped away at the wall. In your search, you managed to uncover a few glittering gems about the size of a marble—not good enough for the exhibition. You plucked them from their perches and handed them to Gabite before backing away. Your pokémon’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the sparkling jewels between his fingers.

As the two of you pressed onward, you returned to your rant. “Maria’s _never_ going to tell Roark like it is, and this’ll just happen all over again!”

Gabite grunted as he inspected one of the shinier gems.

“You know what?” You clenched your free fist as a fierce grin of determination tugged at your lips. “Maybe I _should_ tell him myself. It’s not like our specimens were the only ones lost—the miners lost plenty too. He needs to help set up a real security system for the place.”

As you went on and on again, Gabite’s eyes went wide. After a series of excited grunts and whistles, he leaned in and nipped at your elbow again.

Your free hand flew to the sore spot as you reminded him, “Hey, it hurts when you do that!”

The cave pokémon snorted as he pointed to the wall behind you. Raising an eyebrow, you turned to take a look. Your jaw dropped at the sight. In that large section of wall—probably a good three meters across, spanning from the cavern floor to the ceiling—you could see several pieces of fossil jutting out. To be more accurate, Gabite’s new find looked like it could be one massive fossil. Your lips curved into a wide grin as you grabbed your pickaxe and went straight to work.


	2. Encounter

You had been working on the dig for what seemed like hours now—probably long past the time your employer expected you to return to the surface. It was times like these when you noted how unfortunate it was that you had no way of contacting her. Poor Maria was likely getting ready to send a search party down to find you, but you certainly weren’t going to leave the area behind and risk having your hours of hard work being stolen _again_. Besides, Gabite was already comfortable where he was. Getting him to leave his temporary nests was always difficult, especially when he was hoarding so many new gems there.

Taking a brief break, you carefully put down your pickaxe and wiped the dirt from your brow before taking another swig of water—at least… that was the plan. When you raised the canteen to your lips and tipped it over, only a few drops of the life-giving liquid came out. You pursed your lips and closed an eye as you peered into the container. Sure enough, it was empty.

You shrugged your shoulders before returning it to your belt. “Oh well. At least I’m halfway done.”

As you picked up your pickaxe again, a low growl echoed in your ears. You would have assumed that it was your stomach again if not for the intense volume. All blood drained from your face as you whipped around to face Gabite—just in time to see him rushing off with narrowed eyes. You dropped your tools and raced after the pokémon. When you caught up, you wrapped your arms around him and held him back from attacking the stranger before you.

Your pokémon snarled as he swiped at the air, his rough skin scratching your cheek as you commanded, “Calm down! I don’t think anyone’s stupid enough to try to take your gems.”

The man laughed before confirming, “I was just exploring. I didn’t mean to intrude on your territory.”

Gabite relaxed in your arms as he stopped struggling, prompting you to release him. Your pokémon warily eyed the stranger before snorting and hurrying back to his makeshift nest of jewels. A relieved sigh pushed its way past your lips as you turned back to the man who had almost been attacked. He was tall and thin, and his light blue hair nearly matched his eyes. Admittedly, it was a little weird that he was wearing such a nice suit in such a dirty place, but—hey—it _was_ pretty snazzy.

You absentmindedly tugged at your dust-covered shirt as you flashed him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. He gets a little possessive when it comes to his gems.”

He laughed as he put his hands in his pockets. “That’s quite alright. It wasn’t my first encounter like that, and I doubt that it will be the last.”

The sound of claws on dirt drew your attention back to your pokémon. As you turned around, you saw him scratching at the wall that you had been carefully excavating for the past several hours.

You tensed as you shouted, “Hey, stop that!”

The cave pokémon froze and snorted as he turned to you and tilted his chin toward his neck—a gesture that you had come to recognize as his version of pouting.

As you relaxed, you promised, “I’ll get that gem out for you in a bit. I just don’t want the wall to collapse and ruin the fossil, okay?”

Your pokémon grumbled to himself before scampering over to his nest and curling up atop his treasures.

“I have heard that the Gible line can be difficult to raise,” the stranger commented with a smile. “Not many can do it, but you seem to have succeeded fairly well.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you proudly beamed at your pokémon. “Yeah. It was hard to get him to stop biting, but he really turned out to be the perfect partner for me. We both took on early interests—me in archaeology and him in his gems. I read that they normally don’t care until they’ve reached the first evolution, but from the moment he hatched, he just couldn’t get enough of them.”

The man looked from the pile of jewels beneath Gabite to the large fossil sticking out of the wall beside him. “At a glance, I can’t say I’m surprised.” He turned back to you as he asked, “Are you a hobbyist?”

“Oh, no,” you clarified. “I’m from the Eterna lab, but we partner with Roark and the Oreburgh Mining Museum.”

His eyes briefly widened. “Ah, I see. Your lab is presenting at the International Archaeology Conference next week.”

You nodded. “Yeah, but our main specimen was stolen yesterday, so I’ve been working on getting this new one.”

As you gestured back to your partially excavated fossil, a low roar resonated from your stomach.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you breaking for lunch soon?”

“Actually… I had lunch a few hours ago.” You sheepishly grinned as you admitted, “I may have underpacked. I didn’t really think that I’d find such a huge specimen.” Glancing back to Gabite’s nest, you joked, “So how many gems do I need to hand over for you to grab me some food and water?”

Gabite’s eyes went wide as he growled at the two of you and protectively covered his hoard.

The man beside you laughed before reaching into his pocket. “I’ll just give you this. I was about to head up anyway.”

He pulled out a clear bag containing an untouched sandwich and held it out for you.

You deadpanned. “No, seriously. How much?”

The man grinned as he pushed it into your hands. “Nothing. I’m just glad to support archaeologists when I can. Let me see your canteen for a moment.”

“Oh! Uh…”

You haphazardly reached to your belt and removed the container before handing it over. As the man poured what remained of his water into it, you smiled.

“Thank you so much, um…” You furrowed your eyebrows. “What was your name again?”

He laughed as he handed back your now-full canteen. “Pardon me. I didn’t introduce myself before. My name is Steven. You are…?”

You thanked him again before formally introducing yourself.

Steven grinned as he shook your hand. “It was nice to meet you. Good luck on the rest of your excavation. I look forward to seeing your results at the conference.”

With that said he turned around and made his way back to wherever it was that he had come from. You smiled as you returned to your spot next to Gabite and opened the bag he had given you. After ripping the sandwich in half, you tossed your pokémon his share.

“You know, we’re pretty lucky that such a nice guy ran into us,” you commented before taking a bite. “Well, we’d better hurry up before Maria has a heart attack. I wonder how long we’ve been gone for…”


	3. Meet the Team

“Do you even know how long you were gone for?!” Maria’s face was red as she held her hands on her hips. “We expected you back _eight hours ago!_ What were you thinking? And where is Gabite?”  
   
You resisted rolling your eyes. _Here we go again._  
   
The brunette before you tensed as she spoke more quickly. “Did something bad happen to him? Oh my Arceus, did he get crushed in a cave in? Why didn’t you tell me?”  
   
You huffed. “Relax. He’s fine. There was no collapse, and he’d be fine if there was anyway.” You stuffed your hands in your pockets as you added, “I didn’t realize it was the middle of the night. I thought it was a lot earlier than that. Anyway, I had to leave Gabite to guard our findings.”  
   
Maria paled as she commented, “I hope he doesn’t bite anybody…”  
   
Waving your hand in a dismissive fashion, you told her, “He’ll just scare them off—maybe give a little nip. Nothing serious… probably.” You shook your head. “Anyway, we’re going to need the whole team to bring this one up.”  
   
Maria straightened her posture. “What did you find?”  
   
You put a finger to your lips as you furrowed your eyebrows. “Well… it looks like an Aerodactyl, but in a form that we’ve never seen before. It’s significantly larger than our past samples, and the bones aren’t encased in amber. They’re just… _there.”_  
   
Her eyes went wide. “No way. You’re serious?”  
   
You nodded. “Yeah, now can you get me some help?”  
   
   
After gathering the digging teams associated with the museum, you all found yourselves back at the site to finish the excavation. Miners and scientists alike were walking around the small section of tunnel as they carted out piles of dirt and brought up what they could. Gabite was scampering around and grabbing what gems he could before the humans reached his stash. He growled at a miner who was foolish enough to attempt to take from his pile. The man jumped back and repeatedly apologized to the pokémon before hurrying away. The cave pokémon snorted before reburying the jewels in his nest.  
   
You were indifferent to your pokémon’s antics as you stood next to Maria in front of the fossil.  
   
She was clearly awestruck as she commented, “This is way better than the skull fossil that was stolen.”  
   
Roark stopped behind the two of you and adjusted his helmet. “It’s still a shame that we lost it.” He turned to you as he added, “I’ll work on that security detail you suggested over the next week or so. This would be an amazing centerpiece for the museum, and we really need to make sure that those thieves can’t get it.”  
   
The gym leader stepped away as he moved to help another miner bring a cart of jewels flip-side.  
   
Maria was still staring up at the fossil as she told you, “I know that I was going to send Arno to the conference next week, but it would be a crime not to send you for this discovery.”  
   
You laughed. “I bet he’ll be happy to stay here and work on his project anyway.”  
   
Speak of the devil, your bespectacled coworker chimed in, “The Dig-o-matic will make the world of a difference for all the explorers and archaeologists out there!”  
   
Maria sighed. “I’m sure it will, but we really need a better name for it.”  
   
Arno pouted. “It doesn’t matter anyway if I can’t study how Gabite manages to find all those gems.”  
   
You rolled your eyes before explaining, “We’ll only be gone for a week, and you’ve been studying him for over a year now—wait a second.” You turned to Maria with raised eyebrows. _“I’m_ presenting at the conference?”  
   
Your boss nodded.  
   
You swallowed a gulp. “You mean… the whole thing?”  
   
Maria tilted her head somewhat. “Yes. I thought that was clear.”  
   
“B-But…” You furrowed your eyebrows. “I’ve never even done the Sinnoh conference before, let alone the international one!”  
   
It shouldn’t have surprised you when she just shrugged and told you, “Everyone starts somewhere.”  
   
“Yeah, at a small regional conference,” you argued. “Not at something this big!”  
   
Arno snickered. “Trial by fire, kid.”  
   
Your heart raced as your shoulders drooped. “I just don’t get you sometimes, Maria. You freak out when we’re out exploring, but you drop us in way over our heads when it comes to the rest of the professional stuff.”  
   
The brunette raised an unamused eyebrow as she explained, “At least with conferences, I have confidence that you’ll do fine. What I don’t have confidence in is your ability to remember," she held up fingers as she listed off, "what time it is, that you need to eat when you’re working, to tell others where you went, _where you even are._ Need I go on?”  
   
You folded your arms. “Oh, come on! It’s not like I have any way to contact you when I’m down here. I follow Gabite’s instincts unless I’m checking my experiments—you know that—and I’m the one who led everyone back here.”  
   
“And where under Sinnoh are we?”  
   
You tensed as you cracked a sheepish grin. “Uh… somewhere near… Hold on, I know this…” A few moments passed before you suggested, “We’re under Mt. Coronet?”  
   
She smirked. “We’re under Floaroma Town.”  
   
You relaxed your shoulders as you raised your eyebrows. “Seriously? Wow, that’s further west than I thought…”  
   
“Thank you for proving my point.”  
   
Your cheeks flushed red. “Alright, I get it.”  
   
“Good.” Maria smiled as she assured you, “I’ll come with you to help transport the samples, but I have a meeting with the other lab coordinators and I can’t man the display myself. You’ll do fine.”  
   
A sigh escaped your lips as you mumbled, “I hope you’re right…”


	4. All that Glitters

Far off in a region you had never been to before, you were standing to the side in a sea of people at the convention center. You straightened the hem of your dress and cast a quick glance back to the lab’s display before returning your attention to the group that had just gathered around to hear what you had to present. 

You took a deep breath and smiled brightly before beginning your spiel for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. “Welcome! I’m from the Eterna City Laboratory of Paleontology and Geology. We study the fossils and geological makeup of the Sinnoh Underground. Today I present you with our latest find.” You turned and gestured to the large fossil behind you as you explained, “We uncovered this specimen last week and have done extensive studies within the short time frame we have had. The bones were found lodged within one of the cavern walls of the Underground around a mineral deposit that contained 72.9% more gems than the rest of the Underground—and that’s with a 95% confidence interval.”

Turning to the table, you pointed out to a bin of multicolored gems from Gabite’s hoard. “Most of the samples we found were fluorite—which is uncommon in Sinnoh. From the variety of colors we recovered, and from chemical analysis, we have determined that these samples were all brought to the location by this pokémon. Observations of gabite behavior around the gemstones indicate that they are highly desired by the breed.”

As you waved at the bones, you added, “But this is clearly not a fossil from the gible line. According to our resident fossil analyst, these follow the general shape and patterns of aerodactyl bones. At first we thought this was impossible, because they were not encased in amber and are much larger than your typical aerodactyl bones, but upon DNA analysis, we found that it was actually an aerodactyl. There was a slight difference in the sample, pointing to the direction that this may be a previously undiscovered evolution, but the bones were so similar that much more research would need to be done to confirm or disprove this hypothesis.” You clapped your hands together as you grinned at your audience. “Any questions?”

The crowd dispersed except for two men. To your left was the man who had stumbled upon your excavation. What was his name again? With a glance to his nametag, you reminded yourself that it was Steven. You flashed him a brief smile before turning to the other man. He was equally tall and had a funky hairdo.

The flamboyantly-dressed man stepped forward as he reached out and kissed your hand. Your cheeks flushed a light pink as you tensed. This man was _definitely_ not the type you were used to in your field.

He stood up straight as he placed a hand on his chest. “That was a wonderful presentation, _Mademoiselle._ I am Augustine Sycamore, the Kalos region’s very own pokémon professor.”

You withdrew your hand as you nodded slightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Professor Sycamore.”

“And you,” he added with a grin. “Now about your presentation… did your lab happen to find a peculiar stone with the fossil—one that was not a fluorite?”

You pursed your lips for a moment. “Well, we had several hundred samples—among which were a few stones that my gabite wasn’t interested in—but we haven’t had the chance to analyze them all yet.”

He put a finger beneath his chin. “Ah, I see. I ask because I have been researching something that may tie into this discovery. I would like permission to visit the Eterna Lab in a joint investigation of the fossil.”

Your shoulders drooped. “Uh… I’ll have to bring it up with the head of the lab and have her contact you to figure out a good time.”

The Kalos researcher reached into his pocket and handed you his card. _“Très bien!_ Thank you for this opportunity. Together we should be able to work toward both of our research goals.”

With that said and done, Professor Sycamore moved on to the next presentation table. You watched as the odd man disappeared within the crowds before turning again, only to find Steven still standing there. You smiled as you approached each other until you got close enough that you could read his full nametag. It was then when you froze and felt the blood drain from your cheeks. He wasn’t just a random stranger who happened to dress nicely and have an interest in archeology. The man who gave you a sandwich last week was none other than the former Hoenn Champion and rare gem collector…

“Oh my gosh, you’re _Steven Stone!”_ you blurted out with wide eyes. “I’m _so_ sorry that I didn’t recognize you last week. I… well… I’m not very good at recognizing people like that…” Knots formed in your stomach as you nervously tugged at your dress. “I-I mean, someone so well-known and respected in the community… l-like you.” You swallowed a gulp. “I just… I’m really sorry about that…”

Steven’s shoulders drooped briefly before he smiled. “Please, don’t worry about it. It was actually nice to be spoken to like a normal person—that’s part of why I dropped the title of Champion to pursue my interests.”

You forced a smile as you tried to ignore your nerves. “Oh, well that’s a relief. Sorry about recognizing you…?”

He laughed. “It happens.” The former Champion looked past you as he asked, “Is this what I interrupted last week?”

You followed his gaze back to you display and beamed. “Yeah, this is it. Thanks for the lunch, by the way.”

“It was my pleasure.” Steven waved to the minerals. “I see that the fluorites come from Hoenn, Kalos, and Johto by their colors. Do you have any theories as to how they got to Sinnoh?”

The corners of your lips extended into a wide grin. “Yes! Finally someone who cares about that!” You laughed. “I was starting to think that I was the only one—everyone else only cared about the fossil. So I haven’t run this by anyone else yet, but from the fossil’s wingspan, I think it would easily have the capability of trans-regional flight. Combining that with the unified region theory, I think we could easily assume that the aerodactyl was hoarding the gems in the same way Gabite did.”

“I see.” He turned back to you. “Do you think that the two species may be closely related?”

“It would make sense if my theory is correct.”

There was a short silence before Steven commented, “I’m surprised that no one else asked about the fluorite—it’s very intriguing.”

You sighed. “Yeah… people here seem more interested in paleontology from my experience.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you an archaeologist?”

You shrugged. “That’s my official title, but my research is more geological than anything. My boss just had everyone working to find a good fossil to showcase this week.” After a moment, you added, “Oh! How was my presentation?”

The Steel-type specialist raised his eyebrows. “You did well. It was interesting and professional. To be blunt, I didn’t see any reason as to why you would think otherwise.”

You sheepishly rubbed the back of your neck. “Well, this was actually my first conference presentation, but I’m glad I’m doing it right.” You shared a bout of laughter before shifting your gaze to the nearby tables. “I have to say, I kinda miss being able to wander around and check out everything else, though.”

Steven nodded before offering, “Would you like to meet up for lunch to discuss the rest of the conference? I try to reach every table each time I go.”

Your face lit up as you restrained yourself from jumping for joy. “Seriously?! Thank you so much! I really appreciate all your help lately.”

He smiled as he took out a small piece of paper, scribbled something on it, and handed it to you. “It’s my pleasure. Here’s my PokéNav number. Give me a call when you’re free and we’ll meet up in the dining hall.”

After thanking him profusely, you watched him move on to the next table and readied yourself to present again.


	5. Enthusiasts

Later that afternoon, you were walking beside Maria in the cafeteria as you picked out your lunches. Along the way, you had passed on Professor Sycamore’s card and request. As you paid for your and Gabite’s meals, your boss was waiting beside you.  
   
“What else did he say?” the brunette asked.  
   
After thanking the cashier and stepping aside, you shrugged and explained, “I don’t really know much about it. He seems to want to keep his research fairly secret for now. Just meet with him and see what he wants.”  
   
Maria nodded as she looked out and scanned the crowd of conference-goers. “I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in that. I do wonder what he’s searching for.”  
   
The short woman grinned as she spotted the pokémon professor and began to make her way over. You remained in your spot as you looked out for another. A few moments passed before you noticed your boss halt and turn back toward you.  
   
She raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you coming? You look surprisingly nervous.” She tensed. “Please, tell me he wasn’t that bad.”  
   
You let out an amused snort. “He was  _interesting,_ but not _bad.”_  
   
Maria let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, good... What are you waiting for? Come on.”  
   
As you caught a glimpse of a shiny metagross in the distance, you flashed her an awkward smile.  “Actually, I made plans to meet with someone else.”  
   
Her eyebrows twitched upward.  “Really? I thought you didn’t know anyone here.”  
   
You glanced to the side. _“Well…_ it’s actually someone I met during the aerodactyl excavation. He came up to me earlier, we talked a bit, and agreed to meet up for lunch.”  
   
The corners of Maria’s lips curved into a sly grin. “Oh, _I see._ You know, it would be good for you to meet a man in the field.”  
   
You rolled your eyes. “Honestly, you’re worse than my mother sometimes. It’s just to go over what I missed from the other labs.”  
   
As expected, that didn’t satisfy your romance-obsessed employer. “Uh huh, _sure_ it is.” She turned and waved as she cooed, “Don’t waste your time talking to me. I wouldn’t want you to keep your _friend_ waiting.”  
   
You shook your head before making your way over to a table at the opposite end of the dining hall, the shiny metagross acting as your easy flag. As you approached, Steven looked up from his untouched meal and smiled, prompting a habitual grin from yourself as you tried to ignore your newfound nerves. After all, it wasn’t every day that such a respected member of the geological community personally invited you to talk about a conference. The former Champion stood and pulled out the chair opposite him.  
   
You smiled at him. “Thanks again for your offer.”  
   
“Of course.”  
   
You placed your tray on the table and let Gabite out. The cave pokémon inhaled deeply as he turned to the table, briefly glancing to Steven’s Metagross before eyeing the food on your trays. He let out a low grumble—one that you had started calling his ‘purr’, much to Gabite’s protests—as his gaze locked onto a rice ball on Steven’s plate. A corner of his lips separated, showing his pointed teeth as his eyes twinkled. You jumped up as he lunged forward, yanking the tray from his reach just in time.  
   
 _“Gabite!_ Don’t be so rude. You have your own food,” you scolded.  
   
He snorted and looked away as he folded his arms.  
   
You sighed and apologized to Steven before turning back to your pokémon. “Look, I know you don’t like being in there for so long, but you need to promise me that you’ll behave on the floor this time. Got it? People just want to see what we have. They’re not going to take anything.”  
   
A few moments passed before he grinned slightly and took his plate from your tray. He purred before he sat down next to Metagross and began eating.  
   
You flashed Steven an apologetic smile. “Yeah, sorry about that.”  
   
He smiled encouragingly as he adjusted his tray. “It’s quite alright. Training is a process.”  
   
The two of you watched as Gabite pouted at his now-empty plate. Metagross picked up a small piece of his own meal and stared at it for a moment before offering it to your pokémon. Gabite grinned as he snatched the food from his grasp and devoured it in one bite. The cave pokémon gave the Steel-type a thumbs up, which Metagross returned as best he could, prompting laughs from you and Steven.  
   
After the two of you began eating, you asked, “So, what’d I miss?”  
   
He politely dabbed his napkin against his mouth as he finished chewing. “There were quite a few fossil discoveries. The Pewter Museum of Science unveiled their latest fossil recovery technologies and plans to give demonstrations on the main features for the remainder of the conference. I haven’t seen every table yet, but there was one that I thought you would find particularly interesting.” He pulled out a paper from his coat pocket and handed it to you. “I apologize for the folds.”  
   
You put down your utensils as you read the title of the paper: _New Forms Discovered for Geodude._  
   
Raising an eyebrow, you turned to Steven. “I’ve heard that trainers have been discovering new forms of pokémon in Alola.”  
   
“Ah, but this case is different from those,” he clarified. “The geodudes in question are still Rock-type, but have a different mineral makeup.”  
   
“Well, yes, they’ve already shown that geodudes are always sedimentary rocks,” you began. “Conglomerates in particular, but all with individual mineral makeups in correlation with their habitats.”  
   
He nodded. “I thought the same at first and assumed the presentation was going to be on sandstone shinies, but was proven wrong. The traveling group of Castelia researchers were near Mt. Chimney in Hoenn when they discovered rhyolite geodudes.”  
   
Your jaw dropped. _“Rhyolite?_ That isn’t even sedimentary. That’s just—wow—that’s incredible! And they were functioning pokémon?” You immediately turned the paper to the first figure depicting the red-orange geodudes. “Amazing.”  
   
“I thought you might find it interesting.” As you tried to return the paper, he pushed it back. “You can have this copy.”  
   
“Oh, thanks!” You placed it off to the side as you commented, “You know, I’m surprised that you weren’t the one who found these geodudes first, being the former Champion of Hoenn and all.”  
   
He laughed. “As am I, but I know where to look when I return.”  
   
You nodded before putting an inquisitive finger to your chin. “Hey, speaking of which, I’ve been wondering: what were you doing all the way out in Sinnoh?”  
   
“I’m interested in rare stones, so I travel here and there,” he explained. “I explored much of Hoenn during my time as Champion, but giving up the title has allowed me to pursue my hobby elsewhere. I had heard much about Sinnoh’s famous Underground as a teenager, and have wanted to explore it for some time now. In fact, I plan to return after the conference.”  
   
You tilted your head. “Really? Well, if you’re in the area, maybe I could show you what I’ve been working on. It’s… erm…” You pursed your lips for a few moments. “Was it in Celestic or Eterna…? Well, it’s somewhere just north of Mt. Coronet… at least, I _think_ it is…” You let out a nervous chuckle. “Why don’t I just give you directions from Oreburgh?”  
   
Steven smiled as he laughed slightly. “Yes, that would do nicely.”  
   
You nodded as you gave him a detailed account of your frequent trek through the Underground, adding landmarks and traders of interest along the way. The rare stone enthusiast jotted down your instructions, starring a few key deposits to check out while in the area. From the corner of your eye, you noticed other patrons returning to the conference floor.  
   
Steven stood as he returned the notepad to his coat pocket. “Thank you for your company today. I quite enjoyed our conversation.”  
   
You followed in suit and shook his hand. “Me too.”  
   
“Perhaps we could meet again?”  
   
You grinned. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”  
   
With that decided, you parted ways. Metagross returned to his pokéball while Gabite followed closely behind you.


	6. Downtime

Back in Sinnoh, you were sitting at your desk in the back room of the Eterna lab. You had the latest edition of the Sinnoh Geological Journal opened in your lap as you read an article on the effects of microbes on minerals in the polar regions. Contrary to the untrained eye, you weren’t slacking off—keeping up to date on the latest research was a part of your job. Besides, you never went anywhere without Gabite, and he was busy.  
   
Just behind you, Arno was making his latest adjustments to his invention. He placed a new chunk of excavated rock on the bench-top and watched the screen of his device as he scanned it over the sample. A few moments passed before he retracted his hand and pursed his lips.  
   
“Alright, Gabite,” he called out. “Point out the gems.”  
   
You glanced back and watched as your pokémon stopped admiring his gems and pointed to various spots along the sample. Arno seemed fairly pleased at first, though you caught his furrowed brows at a few hits that his device clearly missed. He chewed on his pen cap for a few moments before taking notes and grumbling to himself. Gabite fidgeted in his spot as he scratched at the hidden gems in the rock sample, though your coworker was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t even hear the sounds.  
   
Soon after returning your attention to the article, you heard the telltale snap of Gabite’s jaw, followed by Arno’s familiar yelp.  
   
Furrowing your brows, you turned around to face your pokémon. _“Hey!_ What did I tell you about nipping?”  
   
As per usual, Gabite simply pouted and scratched at the rock sample.  
   
You rolled your eyes and gestured to his resting area. “You have gems right there.”  
   
A low growl emitted from his throat as he scratched at the sample again.  
   
Fully turning around, you folded your arms. “Knock it off. I said no. If you nip again, I’m taking someone else into the caves. Got it?”  
   
The cave pokémon snorted before licking his thumb and wiping the saliva on Arno’s arm. Your coworker shuddered as he leaned back and wiped the spit on his pant leg. Gabite snickered to himself as he returned to his resting area and picked up a handful of crystals from his hoard.  
   
“Thanks.” The lanky scientist adjusted his glasses as he assured you, “The Dig-O-Matic should be ready soon. I’ll need you to do a field test and compare it to Gabite’s abilities.”  
   
You raised an eyebrow as you cracked a smile. “You know that’s not going to be the name on the patent, right?”  
   
He jokingly placed a hand on his chest. “Yeah, but it’ll always be the Dig-O-Matic in my heart.”  
   
You let out a chuckle as you shook your head. “Yeah, yeah. And what’s your scale when you say ‘soon’?”  
   
Arno turned back to the device and started making adjustments as he told you, “The radar should be ready for testing in the coming weeks. I want you to start with the Underground since that’s what you know best, but you’ll have to fan out and test it in caves around other regions. I’m gonna work up a schedule based off what’s left in the budget.”  
   
“Alright. Just let me know when.”  
   
With that you turned your attention back to the article. You had only made it another few words in before Maria burst into the room, a rolled-up magazine in hand. She stormed right up to you and placed her hands on her hips as you warily eyed your boss and slowly lowered the journal.  
   
“I knew you were meeting with a guy for lunch every day, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me it was Steven Stone— _the_ Steven Stone!”  
   
You frowned. “We were just going over what I missed at the other tables. I really don’t see what the big deal was.” You folded your arms as you leaned back in your seat. “And why are you only confronting me about this now?”  
   
The brunette folded her arms. _“Sure_ it wasn’t romantic… Then, how do you explain  _this?”_  
   
She opened the magazine and turned it to face you. Right on the centerfold was a picture of you and Steven eating lunch together. He was smiling, and you were bobbing your head mid-laugh over a plate of steaming food. What they cropped out was the context of Metagross holding Gabite’s plate out of his reach after your pokémon decided that stealing his meal was okay. To the left of the image was the title in bold lettering: “Steamy Secret Date between Steel Master and Scientist.”    
   
Your cheeks immediately flushed red as you read through the _clearly_ inaccurate—and, quite frankly, overly dramatic—tale of your supposed star-crossed romance.  
   
Smacking your hand against your head, you grumbled, “Arceus help me. I have no clue how you’ve managed to be successful when you believe tabloids like these.”  
   
In the meantime, Arno had come over and snatched the magazine to read the “article” for himself. It wasn’t long before he doubled over in guffaws so loud that no other conversations could be had. Maria huffed as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man.  
   
Tears were streaming down his face as he quoted one of the cheesier lines, “gazed into his steely Steel-Master eyes…” Another bout of laughter filled the room before he turned to your boss. “Is this trash what you’re always reading in your office?”  
   
“Hey, I’ll have you know, that was very tame compared to—” Her cheeks flushed red. “I mean, yes.”  
   
You slyly grinned as you teased, “She probably spends more time thinking about Roark than actually reading.”  
   
She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you hush.”  
   
You snickered. “So was there actually anything you needed or can I get back to reading _real_ articles?”  
   
Maria relaxed as her cheeks returned to their usual hue. “Sycamore may have a real lead on our aerodactyl fossil. We need to check that day’s haul for something like one of these.” She pulled out two rainbow-colored stones: one the size of a marble, and the other several times larger. “He’s calling the big one a mega stone and the small one a key stone.”  
   
Gabite tensed and hunched over his small pile of gems as he growled.  
   
You shot your pokémon a warning glare before reminding him, “Professor Sycamore said it wouldn’t be something you’d be interested in.” Turning back to Maria, you explained, “I left all that in the bins. They should all be in the basement at the museum.”  
   
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll need you to deliver them to Sycamore in Kalos. He’s too busy to come out here—he barely had time for the conference—and I’m too busy helping Roark work on hiring a security detail for the museum.”  
   
You smirked. “Anyone could help him do that—heck, he could probably do it himself.”  
   
Maria straightened her posture as she argued, “As head of the research division, the safety of the museum is half my responsibility.”  
   
“Yeah, yeah. And as head of the mining division, it’s half Roark’s too.” You waved a hand dismissively. “I know. I was just joking.” As you closed the journal, you added, “I’ll do it.”  
   
Arno scowled. “Not yet! I need you to test the radar outside Sinnoh _when you’re done_ doing the Underground field test, and we only have the budget for a limited number of round trips. Maria, you know this’ll bring in a big paycheck for the lab, so we can’t waste a trip like this. Just send the stones by mail.”  
   
Your boss put her hands on her hips as she looked up at the tall scientist. “These samples could be crucial to Professor Sycamore’s research, and that is not something I trust the postal system with.”  
   
Putting a finger to your chin as you tilted your head, you suggested, “Why don’t I just wait and take it out after the field test? If he’s so busy without this, he won’t have time to analyze them for a while. If he does happen to get everything done before we’re ready to send me out, then he can just come out and get the samples himself. Win-win.”  
   
Arno nodded. “Anything’s better than wasting the budget”  
   
Maria pursed her lips for a few moments. “I suppose that could be alright. I’ll call him up.”


End file.
